"Sons of Erin"

September 17, 1862. It was just 10:30 a.m. and the battle that was raging around the village of Sharpsburg, MD has already claimed the lives of thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers in attacks and counter-attacks that swirled and snapped through woods, cornfields, and around a modest, little country church. Perhaps the Army of Northern Virginia's most daunting position on that field was along a portion of the Sharpsburg Road which ran a few feet below the surrounding surface of the land, making it a natural rifle pit.

Wave after wave of Union assaults were repelled by the Confederates. Led by their flamboyant leader - General Thomas Francis Meagher - the Irish Brigade rose to the task of taking the sunken road. On their second charge the brave and gallant soldiers of the Irish Brigade had pushed the Confederates from their stronghold, but at a dear price: 113 killed and 422 wounded.